General commands

Use these commands to perform actions such as turning VoiceOver on and off, getting help, or changing basic settings. VO represents the VoiceOver modifier.

Note: When VoiceOver is on, you can enter VoiceOver commands by using the Fn and number keys with the VoiceOver modifier, as an alternative to using the function keys (F1 through F12). For example, to open VoiceOver Utility you can press Control-Option-Fn-8 (instead of Control-Option-F8).

If you use the function keys (F1 through F12), you may need to press and hold the Fn key, depending on how you set the behavior of function keys in Keyboard preferences.

Turn VoiceOver on or off

Command-F5

Lock and unlock the VoiceOver modifier

VO-;

Open VoiceOver Utility

VO-F8

Start keyboard help

VO-K

Open the VoiceOver Help menu

VO-H

Open the VoiceOver Quick Start

VO-Command-F8

Open VoiceOver online help

VO-?

Read the help tag for the current item

VO-Shift-H

Read the VoiceOver hint for the current item

VO-Shift-N

Open the Commands menu

VO-H-H

Open the Find Commands menu

VO-Shift-F

Close a menu or rotor, stop an action, or exit a mode

Escape or Fn-Tab

Tell VoiceOver to ignore the next key or key combination you press

VO-Tab

Open the Verbosity rotor

VO-V

Then press the Left Arrow or Right Arrow key to choose the setting. Use the Up Arrow and Down Arrow keys to change the level for the setting.

Increase magnification of the item in the VoiceOver cursor

VO-}

Decrease magnification of the item in the VoiceOver cursor

VO-{

Temporarily hide or show the VoiceOver cursor and the caption or braille panels

VO-Command-F11

Hide or show the caption panel only

VO-Command-F10

Resize or move the caption panel

VO-Shift-F10

Press again to cycle through these actions. Then use the arrow keys to resize the panel or move it.

Hide or show the braille panel only

VO-Command-F9

Resize or move the braille panel

VO-Shift-F9

Press again to cycle through these actions. Then use the arrow keys to resize the panel or move it.

Tile visuals (dim the screen, highlight the caption or braille panel, and show the item in the VoiceOver cursor in the center of the screen)

VO-F10

Press again to return to the normal view.

Enable or disable the NumPad Commander

VO-Clear

Enable or disable the Keyboard Commander

VO-Shift-K

Enable or disable the Trackpad Commander

Press the VO (Control and Option) keys and rotate two fingers clockwise (enable) or counterclockwise (disable)

Turn the screen curtain on or off

VO-Shift-F11

Cycle through speech settings (such as voice, rate, or pitch) in the rotor

VO-Command-Shift-Right Arrow or Left Arrow

Increase or decrease the current speech setting (such as voice, rate, or pitch) in the rotor